Autonomous vehicle technology provider Perrone Robotics Inc. and cleantech vehicle manufacturer Tropos Motors yesterday announced a partnership to produce a series of fully autonomous, electric low-speed vehicles (e-LSVs) and trucks.
“Our best-in-class electric vehicles, coupled with Perrone's turnkey, drop-in AV [autonomous vehicle] solution, helps our customers transition to more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly fleets simply and quickly,” stated John Bautista, founder and CEO of Tropos Technologies Inc. “Autonomous eLSVs are becoming increasingly important to the market, given the zero emissions and reduced total cost of ownership when compared to traditional fleet vehicles.”
Tropos Technologies manufactures and distributes utility e-LSVs and trucks under the Tropos Motors brand. The Morgan Hill, Calif.-based company said its product line can handle large payloads and towing capacities and can operate in tight quarters with a short wheelbase and a tight turning radius.
Tropos Motors' street-legal vehicles include the ABLE line of electric compact utility vehicles (eCUVs). It said its eCUVs can be operated indoors, outdoors, and off-road. They are designed for corporate, fleet, first-responder, agriculture, last-mile delivery, and construction applications.
Perrone TONY in production
Electric vehicle innovations have disrupted the transportation and transit space, said Perrone Robotics. The Crozet, Calif.-based company's TONY (short for “TO Navigate You”) is a vehicle-independent retrofit kit for the autonomous transit of people and goods in geofenced and localized operations.
Perrone said its patented, full-stack system can be embedded inside any vehicle type to bring full autonomy in a safety-certifiable framework.
The company noted that its “artificial driver” is piloted and in commercial production. It also offers a portfolio of existing turnkey autonomous shuttles and vehicles pre-integrated with the TONY retrofit kit.
Perrone added that its systems can help commercial, municipal, and governmental customers increase transportation efficiencies, enhance safety, and accelerate zero-emission vehicle deployment.
The partnership comes weeks after Perrone completed a series of complex operational design domain demonstrations (ODD) for autonomous vehicles on public roads. The company said it plans to announce another municipality customer contract for several autonomous and electric vehicles in the coming months.
Tropos Motors' ABLE to provide utility
The partners said the new vehicle platform will combine Perrone's TONY kit with Tropos Motors' line of vehicles, including ABLE. The result will be a market-driven compact utility utility that works across a wide range of industries, including cargo, agricultural, industrial, and municipal transportation applications.
Customers are able to accelerate the global deployment of autonomous vehicle fleet solutions across their gas-powered, diesel and electric passenger and cargo shuttles, according to Perrone and Tropos. The partners said they will enable mobility solutions including last-mile delivery of products and food, various trades and utility uses, as well as off-highway and on-campus usage.
The partnership will include the delivery of Perrone's reliable core TONY autonomous vehicle driverless system, the licensing of software, and the provision of related services. Tropos and Perrone are also developing emergency and first-responder systems to be available later this year.
“The demand for reliable and proven AV solutions in today's mobility market continues to expand,” said Paul Perrone, CEO of Perrone Robotics. “By partnering with Tropos, we're able to jointly offer customers a solution for transit of goods across a wide variety of applications that is tested, scalable, and sustainable.”
“Integrating the Tropos novel payload-adaptable vehicle platform with Perrone's fully autonomous technology delivers a new kind of option for customers who need cost-effective and scalable solutions across their cargo and delivery model,” he said. “The collaboration results in an accelerated production pathway to meet the increasing demand for electric-low speed vehicle applications across industries.”
Perrone Robotics is showing its TONY retrofit kit at Booth 3127 at AUVSI Xponential in Atlanta this week.
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